India-Pakistan combined 11 picked by Pakistan great; Hardik Pandya, Shahid Afridi OUT of the team
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Legendary off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq has picked his combined Playing XI including both India and Pakistan teams. In a huge surprise, Mushtaq did not include two highly-skilled allrounders in his team - Hardik Pandya and Shahid Afridi.
Saqlain Mushtaq's Playing XI includes some of the best players to have played for both these teams. It consists of the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan, all of whom have excellent numbers in T20 cricket.
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Saqlain Mushtaq's combined India-Pakistan Playing XI
- Rohit Sharma
- Babar Azam
- Virat Kohli
- Mohammad Rizwan
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Rishabh Pant (wk)
- Shadab Khan
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Shaheen Afridi
- Naseem Shah
- Ravichandran Ashwin
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Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant form a solid middle order
Apart from these four players, the Playing XI also includes the 360-degree player Suryakumar Yadav, who possesses the ability to hit the ball anywhere on the ground. Suryakumar has excellent numbers in T20 cricket and is a key player in the T20I team. He is also India's T20I captain currently.
Meanwhile, Saqlain Mushtaq's XI has also found a place for Rishabh Pant, who returned to international cricket in the T20 World Cup 2024. In his first tournament on Pant's return, the Men in Blue lifted the T20 World Cup title in June this year.
Shadab Khan's inclusion is a big surprise given his recent numbers with both bat and ball. Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah make a formidable fast-bowling attack.
Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, who retired from T20Is after the T20 World Cup win this year, finds a place in Saqlain Mushtaq's Playing XI as the specialist spinner. India's legendary off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is the 12th man in this team.
Players who have retired from T20Is
Out of all these players, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja have already retired from T20Is. The last match of their T20I careers is the same - T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa.
However, the biggest surprise in Saqlain Mushtaq's Playing XI was the omission of Hardik Pandya and Shahid Afridi. Both of them are quite potent with both bat and ball and have the ability to change the game on their own.
Hardik has time and again proved how key he is to India's white-ball plans. He is a quality finisher and can also chip in as a specialist bowler and provide wickets at regular intervals. He was crucial to India's win in the T20 World Cup 2024.
Meanwhile, Afridi is regarded as one of the best all-rounders to have ever played T20 cricket. His six-hitting ability is hard to match and he is a highly-skilled bowler as well. He played a key role in Pakistan's T20 World Cup 2009 win.
Unfortunately, there was no place for both Pandya and Afridi in this team. Hardik has proved to be a game-changer for India, especially in crunch situations. Afridi, too, has won many matches for Pakistan across formats.
